Oil Recommendation for an Old Datson

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SoCal_FiST

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I recently picked up a 1971 Datsun 510 that has an L20B swapped in that has a hotter cam and has been bored over. I am looking for a good oil recommendation for it. It currently has 200 or so miles on it with the break in oil, but am not sure what to run when I drain the break in oil.

Thanks for the recommendations.
 
I don't have a recommendation. I had a 510 back in the mid 70's. Underrated car for its time. Decent engine and handled well for the time. Easy to work on but did not like the New England road salt.

I suppose you probably have a pdf of the owners manual and shop manual. If you don't, here is a link for the shop manual. The owners manual is also available.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1077621/Datsun-510.html

I bet I used Castrol 10W30 back then.
 
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I don't know much about the 4's, but if this is essentially the L24 missing 2 cylinders, I'd run VR1 20w50 even if it was stock.
 
I still have a 79 510 L20B still sitting here rusting away. It got rear ended about 11 years ago. Wife bought it around the time we got married, so she won't let me get rid of it.

The L20B is the best engine I have ever had. Factory carburetor can be fussy, but I remedied that with a Weber carb when the engine had about 150,000 miles.

Being out in the country like I am now, some guys still stop by, and ask if it has the L20B in it, and I always have to tell them it's not for sale.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I changed oil in that engine, but I am pretty sure all I ran in it was Havoline 10w30 conventional.
 
I would pick my favorite brand of 10W30, moving up to 10W40 if oil pressure indicated the need.
 
I had an old 71 510 it was a great car. In Southern Cal depending on what I was planning to use it for I would likely go with a full synthetic in 10w30 or 10w-40.
 
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From experience any 10W30 would work very well. My friend still uses 10W30 PYB in his Datsun. 45 years later the original engine is still running like a top.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
You guys in the SW are so lucky? Well, other than the 120F in the shade thing! Those old Datsuns got crushed here eons ago.



I'm lucky this week. Only a high in the low 100's. Its 9AM here and its over 90F already. But our vehicles are virtually rust free.
 
Originally Posted by SoCal_FiST
I recently picked up a 1971 Datsun 510 that has an L20B swapped in that has a hotter cam and has been bored over. I am looking for a good oil recommendation for it. It currently has 200 or so miles on it with the break in oil, but am not sure what to run when I drain the break in oil.

Thanks for the recommendations.

Who did the engine work and what do they say?

I would never ask non professionals on the the web for a recommendation.

An easy answer would be 10w30 if the engine has cast alloy pistons.

What's your current oil temp and hot idle pressure and pressure at 3000 rpm?
 
Nice car. I would run M1 10w30 high mileage. It's thicker than most other 10w30s since it is not GF-5 specified. Also contains seal conditioners to help prevent leaks and close to 100ppm of moly.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Originally Posted by SoCal_FiST
I recently picked up a 1971 Datsun 510 that has an L20B swapped in that has a hotter cam and has been bored over. I am looking for a good oil recommendation for it. It currently has 200 or so miles on it with the break in oil, but am not sure what to run when I drain the break in oil.

Thanks for the recommendations.

Who did the engine work and what do they say?

I would never ask non professionals on the the web for a recommendation.

An easy answer would be 10w30 if the engine has cast alloy pistons.

What's your current oil temp and hot idle pressure and pressure at 3000 rpm?







I bought the car from the previous owner who had the motor built and the engine builder has since retired so I don't have too much information on that.

I'm just trying to see what other enthusiasts recommend. As far as oil pressure the light will occasionally flicker after driving it around and it idling. But is very rare and intermittent. It was also very out of tune and since the timing and carbs will be adjusted
 
Originally Posted by EdwardC
Nice car! Got any pics to share? Sorry, I can't help with the oil selection!


Sure I'll post some tonight when I'm home
 
I'd go with Rotella 10w30 for now since the engine is just wearing itself in, it's still very tight.

Once the engine has a few thousand miles maybe go thicker if the oil pressure goes too low at hot idle on 10w30.
 
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